Beactica Initiates Drug Discovery Collaboration with Medivir

Uppsala, Sweden, June 10, 2014 / B3C newswire / - Beactica, the Swedish fragment-based drug discovery company, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Medivir AB (OMX: MVIR). Under the agreement, Beactica will use its proprietary discovery platform to identify novel hits against a disease-relevant protease of therapeutic interest to Medivir. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We are pleased that Medivir has selected Beactica to advance one of their prioritized discovery programmes”, said Beactica CEO, Dr Per Källblad. “Medivir is at a very exciting point in their development and we are looking forward to tackle this challenging project together with their team of innovative scientists”.

Dr Richard Bethell, Executive Vice President Discovery Research, Medivir commented: “We at Medivir are very much looking forward to collaborating with our partners at Beactica, and applying their fragment-based lead discovery technology, in our search for hits active against one of our early discovery targets".

About BeacticaBeactica AB is a specialist drug discovery company, utilising its proprietary methodologies to evaluate the interactions of molecules in order to generate novel therapeutics. The Company offers expertise and services in the area of SPR biosensor-based small molecule interaction analysis and partnerships for fragment-based lead generation using its proprietary discovery platform. Founded in 2006 based on research carried out at Uppsala University and first-hand experience from the drug discovery industry, Beactica has established a robust reputation as the leader in SPR biosensor-based small molecule drug discovery. As well as providing services and building collaborations with external companies, Beactica is progressing its own drug discovery programmes.

About MedivirMedivir is an emerging research-based pharmaceutical company focused on infectious diseases. Medivir has world class expertise in polymerase and protease drug targets and drug development which has resulted in a strong infectious disease R&D portfolio. The Company’s key pipeline asset is simeprevir, a novel protease inhibitor for the treatment of hepatitis C that is being developed in collaboration with Janssen R&D Ireland. The company is also working with research and development in other areas, such as bone disorders and neuropathic pain. Medivir has also a broad product portfolio with prescription pharmaceuticals in the Nordics.